To encourage young readers’ summer outdoor exploration, here are two wonderful picture books which will help young explorers develop their observation skills … and more!
When Liz Hauck first explains her intention to show up every Tuesday night and help a group of teenaged boys living at a state-run residential center cook dinner together and then eat together, their reaction is comically honest.
Above silver grain bins
Half moon and fireflies
Sixteen-year-old Nala attends her cousin’s activism group and falls for Tye, who is acting as MC in “Love is a Revolution” (Soho 2021), by Renee Watson.
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Bright morning sunshine
Lit Books & Bar is partnering with the owners of Hopscotch Bakery & Market who will be opening a second location inside.
The flap copy of Gillian McDunn’s latest, “These Unlucky Stars,” intrigued me, because the main character didn’t feel like she fit in with the rest of her family, but I didn’t expect to be sucked in so quickly.
Light wind over water —
While browsing through titles at my local bookstore, I recently stumbled upon a book display of newer noteworthy reads.
A thing with feathers
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of astronaut John Glenn’s thrilling three-orbit voyage around the Earth.
I hope everyone is enjoying the outdoors this summer!
Bright blue morning
Drew, the main character in “Things You Can’t Say,” by Jenn Bishop, is a pretty average kid. He doesn’t have a super power, he’s not on an epic quest, but he has something he loves, which is entertaining little kids at the local library with puppet shows.
Your warm breath wakes buds
In Part 2 of a Sunday miniseries, best-selling biographers share stories about Kamala Harris, Johnny Cash. Satchel Paige, Barbara Bush, Jimi Hendrix, Mike Royko, Richard Pryor, Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Harper Lee, Hugh Hefner, Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, Ernest Hemingway, Alex Trebek and Alan Shepard.
As we head into summer, a season hopefully with extra reading time, Horn Book Magazine makes a summer recommended reading list.
Twelve-year-old Ana-Marie Jin is the National Juvenile Girl’s Figure Skating Champion in “Ana on the Edge” (Little Brown 2020) by A.J. Sass.
Wreaths at gravesites
In Part 1 of a Sunday ministers, A-list authors share stories about Stan Musial, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, Vince Lombardi, Harriet Tubman, George Washington, Warren Buffett, Louis Armstrong and Steve Jobs.
One of my favorite things about a fantasy novel is the chance to explore a weird new world alongside its characters.
“Out of the Fog” tells of senior citizen Harvey England, who passes out, slips into a coma and awakens five months later in an upscale Champaign senior living center. The widower with no children finds his home and all of his belongings, including several Tiffany lamps and collector cars, are gone as is a large investment account.
A gaggle of geese
One of the most fun things about “The Best Worst Summer,” by Elizabeth Eulberg, is that it’s really two stories in one, tied together by a time capsule.
In the sky, big, grey
The women of the Chan family are cursed. No matter what they do, the men in their lives inevitably leave. So it’s strange that weddings are their business, and they’re about to get their big break: a multimillion-dollar event at an extravagant resort.
Ellie’s family has been driven from their small Maine town to a little patch of land on the mountain due to the Great Depression in “Echo Mountain” (Dutton 2020) by Lauren Wolk.
Sitting on the porch
The visit was part of a new Asian American Education Initiative organized by the University of Illinois College of Education and the UI’s Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies.
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